Blessings for VTara

I am writing to bring you an update our friend, VTara. I am blessed and honored to be a part of my friend, VTara’s sacred walk at this time. I bring this information in the spirit of love and hope for her full recovery. VTara had surgery on January 1st. It was appendicitis that sent her to the ER on New Year’s Eve. The surgeon found a mass in her colon and so removed a section of colon along with the appendix and gall bladder. On January 8th she was able to go home for one day. On January 9th she went back to FMC for a second surgery. The pathology showed third stage cancer (meaning that it was not local to the mass and colon, but had gone to lymph nodes). The surgeon removed several nodes and re-sectioned the colon for clean and safe margins.

VTara is now resting at home. She feels confident that the cancer has been removed. She has great faith and gratitude for her surgeon’s work and will be visiting with an oncologist in the very near future. It is a “one day at a time” journey. Her spiritual practice, family and friends are most important as she processes this news and charts her course. For now, she is only eating Gerson Institute recipes, and has been consulting with her doctor about the next steps. Further Shore is going to assist to coordinate her journey. Many of you have called to ask what you can do, so here are some things:

I. VTara has requested a healing ceremony with a medicine man. Clarence and Kat have made the arrangements for this and it will be happening in the near future. As far as I know, the ceremony is private for the family only. If V wants to invite you, you will receive a call. There is a significant fee involved with bringing a traditional Navajo healer to Flagstaff for this kind of ceremony. Further Shore is going to pay the healer and purchase any supplies needed for the ceremony. If you would like to help with the financial aspect, you can make a tax deductible donation in any amount to Further Shore, Inc. Via Pay Pal on line at http://furthershore_org.apache1.cloudsector.net/ (Click onto the donation section and make a notation that it is for VTara’s Ceremony.)

II. VTara is open to all sorts of healing modalities and to visitors. Some visitor’s tips: Massage may be contra-indicated, but energy work is not. She is grateful for prayers, long distance Reiki or other distance healing as well as the energetic therapies (Reiki, Jin Shin, Reconnection, Polarity, foot reflexology, etc.). V is not the only one in the home. Joe and Chuck and sometimes Kris, Cager and their two dogs are there, so she requests that visitors call first.

Be mindful that she may need visits to be short or longer as per where she ‘is’ that day. Ask her! Be mindful about talking. . . she told me that she is flowing with the feelings, sometimes wanting and needing to talk; sometimes wanting quiet time, sleep or meditation. Again, if in doubt, ask. She is currently eating organic oatmeal gruel (a Gerson recipe to soothe the intestinal tract). Soon, she will be adding soups, broths and organic juices. She may appreciate help with juicing, making the soups or shopping for the organics.

Chuck and Joe are grateful for the offer of food too, but b/c of their varied tastes they are not requesting food at this time. VTara tells me that they do like pizza and lasagna though, so maybe give a call if you want to bring something like that by.

III. Dr. Christie, aka Ani Sangye, has placed VTara’s name on the prayer list in Sedona, Arizona. She will also dedicate to VTara at the her Sanga’s Sunday gathering this Sunday, January 20th. When the Sanga gathers for prayers and offering/dedication of food this Sunday, it will be in honor of VTara’s clear mind, ease of spirit, and healing of body. You can read about this precious Buddhist work at these web sites http://www.prayerwithoutceasing.org/index.htmlhttp://www.stupas.org/

Christie, by the way, is healing well, still off the oxygen and filled with gratitude for her new home in Sedona. Keep her in your prayers please for swift sale of her home and slowly re-entering into her sacred work as a “portable practitioner” (Chiropractor and Buddhist Nun). That is it for now. Please continue to join me in the knowing that VTara is well and whole, here and now and in all dimensions and on all levels of being. For she, who has given so much to our community, may we now give back to her in love, compassion and understanding. More on this after January 29th.